BBC - Fine Art Collection (2003) Part 5 The Gentle Art of Making Enemies Whistler

The original art is a human desire, depicting life through a variety of ways, but who are the masters of it? The expression means they must be unique individuals, while also embracing life. “Art Collection” by the BBC performs elaborate and time-consuming search through the years, shuttling around the museums, galleries and private collections in the world and visiting around artists friends and family. It is also showing enjoyment through the creation of classics, interspersed with an introduction to the life of the great masters of art from various periods to gain insight into their artistic core.

Part 5: The Gentle Art of Making Enemies : Whistler

James McNeill Whistler (1834 - 1903)

Perhaps one of the most misunderstood artists of the nineteenth century, James MacNeill Whistler was known as a dandy, an eccentric and a wit. He was far less celebrated for the value of this work, and, while his Arrangement in Grey and Black: Portrait of the Painter's Mother (1871) is now renowned, in his lifetime it remained unsold for nineteen years after it was painted. During his life, he was largely dismissed for his interest in “art for art's sake” but this helped prepare the ground for modern art.

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